SEN Funding Formula
SEN funding formula for mainstream primary and secondary schools
All maintained schools, including mainstream academies, receive a budget allocated at the beginning of the financial year, from 1 April each year. The school’s allocation for all children, including those with special educational needs, is based on the number and age of the children within the school. In addition, for the majority of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), further resources are allocated through the SEN Notional budget for mainstream schools.
A child identified by the school as having SEN is regarded as having high needs. It is for each school to determine how to appropriately meet children’s needs.
Additional support is provided over and above the normal staffing arrangements within the school based on the funding delivered by the school’s core budget share.
Where a child with high needs requires additional support over and above that normally available in school, the school is required to fund the first £6,000 of their additional provision. These children will have been assessed as requiring Education Health and Care (EHC) plans.
For children with EHC plans whose needs require additional support over this level, specific funding is provided as a top-up. The top-up will be paid from the centrally retained resource held by the local authority on behalf of schools for additional support over and above £6000 only where this has been assessed for children with EHC plans and determined by the local authority.
The funding formula uses data and information about low attainment and deprivation. The factors have been decided by the Department for Education under the Government’s new funding reforms which came in to place from April 2013. The use of the low attainment and deprivation data and information will identify a profile of need for each school, which can then be used for the allocation of available funds on an annual basis through the SEN Notional budget. All types of need are covered by this funding model which results in the allocation of a sum of money which is part of the whole school budget. This can be used to address the needs of children, in any category, as identified, assessed and prioritised by the school.